The present invention relates generally to apparatus and methods for sealing or closing passages through tissue, and more particularly to devices for sealing punctures or other openings communicating with body lumens, such as blood vessels, and to apparatus and methods for delivering such devices.
Catheterization and interventional procedures, such as angioplasty or stenting, generally are performed by inserting a hollow needle through a patient""s skin and muscle tissue into the vascular system. A guide wire may then be passed through the needle lumen into the patient""s blood vessel accessed by the needle. The needle may be removed, and an introducer sheath may be advanced over the guide wire into the vessel, e.g., in conjunction with or subsequent to a dilator. A catheter or other device may then be advanced through a lumen of the introducer sheath and over the guide wire into a position for performing a medical procedure. Thus, the introducer sheath may facilitate introduction of various devices into the vessel, while minimizing trauma to the vessel wall and/or minimizing blood loss during a procedure.
Upon completion of the procedure, the devices and introducer sheath may be removed, leaving a puncture site in the vessel wall. External pressure may be applied to the puncture site until clotting and wound sealing occur. This procedure, however, may be time consuming and expensive, requiring as much as an hour of a physician""s or nurse""s time. It is also uncomfortable for the patient, and requires that the patient remain immobilized in the operating room, catheter lab, or holding area. In addition, a risk of hematoma exists from bleeding before hemostasis occurs.
Various apparatus have been suggested for percutaneously sealing a vascular puncture by occluding the puncture site. For example, U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,192,302 and 5,222,974, issued to Kensey et al., describe the use of a biodegradable plug that may be delivered through an introducer sheath into a puncture site. When deployed, the plug may seal the vessel and provide hemostasis. Such devices, however, may be difficult to position properly with respect to the vessel, which may be particularly significant since it is generally undesirable to expose the plug material, e.g., collagen, within the bloodstream, where it may float downstream and risk causing an embolism.
Another technique has been suggested that involves percutaneously suturing the puncture site, such as that disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,304,184, issued to Hathaway et al. Percutaneous suturing devices, however, may require significant skill by the user, and may be mechanically complex and expensive to manufacture.
Staples and surgical clips have also been suggested for closing wounds or other openings in tissue. For example, U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,007,921 and 5,026,390, issued to Brown, disclose staples that may be used to close a wound or incision. In one embodiment, an xe2x80x9cSxe2x80x9d shaped staple is disclosed that includes barbs that may be engaged into tissue on either side of the wound. In another embodiment, a ring-shaped staple is disclosed that includes barbs that project from the ring. These staples, however, have a large cross-sectional profile and therefore may not be easy to deliver through a percutaneous site to close an opening in a vessel wall.
In addition, skin seals have been proposed that may be threaded into an opening in skin. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 5,645,565, issued to Rudd et al., discloses a surgical plug that may be screwed into a puncture to seal the puncture. The surgical plug includes an enlarged cap and a threaded shaft that extends from the cap. During an endoscopic procedure, the plug may be threaded into an opening through skin until the cap engages the surface of the skin. The plug is intended to seal the opening communicating with a body cavity to prevent insufflation fluid from leaking from the cavity. Such plugs, however, may only be used at the surface of the skin, and may not be introduced through tissue, for example, to seal an opening in the wall of a blood vessel or other subcutaneous region.
Accordingly, devices for sealing punctures or other passages through tissue, e.g., an opening into a blood vessel, would be considered useful.
The present invention is directed to apparatus and methods for sealing or closing passages through tissue, such as punctures communicating with blood vessels or other body lumens.
In accordance with one aspect of the present invention, a device for sealing a passage through tissue is provided that includes a body, e.g., formed from bioabsorbable material, including a proximal end, a distal end, and a helical thread on an outer surface extending at least partially between the proximal and distal ends. The body includes a lumen extending between the proximal end and a distal inlet port. A sealing member is disposed within the lumen that is expandable for substantially sealing the lumen from fluid flow therethrough.
In a first preferred embodiment, the sealing member includes a material that is expandable when exposed to fluid to substantially seal the lumen, such as a foam and/or a bioabsorbable material. The sealing member may be a valve or other device that is biased towards a first configuration for substantially sealing the lumen from fluid flow therethrough, and is movable to a second configuration for accommodating introduction of one or more devices through the lumen.
In a second preferred embodiment, the lumen includes a tapered portion that tapers in cross-section, and the sealing member is a generally annular-shaped member disposed adjacent a wide end of the tapered portion of the lumen. The sealing member is movable into the tapered portion for substantially sealing the lumen from fluid flow therethrough.
In accordance with another aspect of the present invention, an apparatus is provided for sealing a passage through tissue that includes a handle device or other elongate member and a plug member. The elongate member has a proximal end, a distal end, and a lumen extending between the proximal and distal ends. The plug member is disposed on the distal end of the elongate member, and includes a helical thread on its outer surface and a distal port therein in communication with the lumen.
Preferably, the plug member includes a passage therein extending between the distal port and the lumen. A sealing member may be disposed in the passage for substantially sealing the passage from fluid flow therethrough, such as that described above. In one embodiment, the passage and lumen define a bleed back lumen for determining the location of the plug member relative to a blood vessel or other body lumen.
In another embodiment, an obturator or other elongate member is insertable through the lumen such that a distal end of the obturator is disposed beyond the distal end of the plug member. The obturator may include a location indicator for identifying when the distal end of the plug member is disposed adjacent a body lumen. The location indicator may include a bleed back lumen in the obturator and a bleed back port on its distal tip, the bleed back port being in communication with the bleed back lumen. Alternatively, the location identifier may include an expandable member on a distal tip of the obturator, the expandable member being expandable when the distal tip is disposed within a body lumen for providing tactile feedback of a location of the distal end of the plug member with respect to the body lumen.
Preferably, the plug member is releasable from the elongate member. The elongate member may include an actuator for releasing the plug member from the distal end of the elongate member. Preferably, cooperating connectors are provided on the distal end of the elongate member and on the plug member for releasably securing the plug member to the distal end of the elongate member.
In accordance with yet another aspect of the present invention, a method is provided for sealing a passage through tissue communicating with a body lumen using an apparatus, such as that described above. Generally, the apparatus includes an elongate member, and a plug member disposed on a distal end of the elongate member. The plug member includes an outer surface including a helical thread, and a bleed back indicator associated with a distal end of the plug member.
The plug member is inserted into the passage until the helical thread begins to enter the passage. The elongate member may be rotated in a first direction, thereby threading the plug member into the passage until the bleed back indicator enters the body lumen, whereupon fluid from the body lumen may enter the bleed back indicator to identify the location of the body lumen with respect to the plug member. If desired, rotation of the elongate member may be reversed, thereby withdrawing the plug member a predetermined distance relative to the body lumen.
Thereafter, the plug member may be released from the elongate member within the passage. Preferably, the plug member is formed from bioabsorbable material, and the plug member is left within the passage until it is absorbed by the tissue.
In a preferred embodiment, the elongate member includes a lumen extending from its proximal end through the plug member, and the bleed back indicator includes a bleed back port in the plug member, the bleed back port being in communication with the lumen. Alternatively, an obturator may be inserted through the lumen until a distal end of the obturator extends distally beyond the plug member, and the bleed back indicator may include a bleed back lumen in the obturator.
A sealing member may be provided in a lumen of the plug member for sealing the lumen, and consequently the bleed back port, from fluid flow therethrough. The sealing member may be an expandable material that expands when exposed to fluid. Alternatively, the sealing member may be a generally annular shaped element that may be disposed adjacent a wide end of a tapered portion of the lumen. The annular-shaped may be moved or otherwise wedged into the tapered portion for substantially sealing the lumen.
Other objects and features of the present invention will become apparent from consideration of the following description taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.